Here’s a well made clip featuring Chris Harris driving a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG ‘Gullwing’ around the Ring. It was all part of the fun and games you can have at a dedicated Destination Nürburgring track day.
UPDATE: Harris has blogged about the SLS over at the evo website.
The Ring1tv YouTube channel brings us a superb highlights package of the 2011 Nürburgring 24 hour race. We trust you will enjoy the clip above as you relive the journey that saw Manthey Racing return to the winner’s circle.
[Thanks to Obi for the tip]
If you spend any time watching the goings on at the Nürburgring, especially during Touristenfahrten days, you’ll be familiar with the little blue ‘Ringmini’.
It’s a 1971 Mini Clubman Estate that been fitted with the engine and transmission from a Honda Civic. In short, it’s bloody fast and its owner knows the Ring like the back of his hand.
As this lap around the Nordschleife will attest. It’s a superb bit of footage, with virtually no traffic. The camera mount location also adds to the sensation of speed.
Toyota is shouting from its rooftop that it plans to claim a new Nürburgring record for the fastest lap set by an electric powered vehicle. It’s even named the date as well; mark down 29 August.
The current electric lap record around the Nordschleife is 9:01.338 set by the radical Peugeot EX1. Toyota’s press release doesn’t name the car they will be using, rather teasing us by revealing,”The TMG 100% electric car, which is based on a two-seater sportscar chassis fitted with TMG’s exclusive EV technology, has a top speed of 260km/h and can travel from 0 to 100km/h in 3.9 seconds.”
It’s understood Toyota will base its record-breaker on the Alpha-1 SRF (pictured above).
[Source: Autoblog]
Here’s a nice video showing a BMW 1 Series M Coupé driving around the Nürburgring Nordschleife on an open tourist day. It’s a pretty tidy lap as well, with the driver spending most of the time right on the tail of an E46 M3 CSL. We trust you’ll enjoy the next 9 minutes.
[Source: 1addicts]
Red Bull Racing duo Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel took some time out of their German GP preparations to flog a couple of company cars around the awesome Nürburgring Nordschleife.
With an Infiniti M each the pair trade wisecracks as they lap the old circuit. It would appear, even in a gig like this, that Seb gets preferential treatment; his cars had KERS and Mark’s didn’t.
The German Grand Prix is clearly a big event for manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz. It’s their home race and the history of the Nürburgring allows a great chance to maximise the marketing potential the F1 travelling circus brings.
A perfect opportunity, then, to bring out some old Silver Arrows for a run around the Nordschleife. Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg did just that getting behind the wheel of a pair of classic 1950s Mercedes-Benz W196 racecars.
Rosberg found himself driving the open wheel W196 which Juan Manuel Fangio drove to victory in the 1954 German Grand Prix held at the Nürburgring. Schumacher got one-on-one time with the streamliner ‘Monza’ W196, noted for its less nimble handling compared to the open wheeler.
The W196s were powered by a normally aspirated 2.5-litre straight 8 cylinder engine, producing a shade over 190kW (250hp) when they debuted. Subsequent development saw peak numbers as high as 230kW (310hp). They dominated the 1954 and 1955 seasons and delivered Fangio two of his five world championships.
After the break you can see a short video and more photos which can all be accessed at 2000px super image sizing.
We were surprised to see Red Bull Racing testing a new ring-taxi concept after last night’s German Grand Prix. We think catching a pax lap in a Formula One car around the Ring would be an awesome experience. We didn’t see the RB7 head out to the Nordschleife, but think Red Bull Racing should definitely consider that in their plans. We do think, however, that some work needs to be done on the seating arrangements.
That’s the question being asked over at the ‘Race of Two Worlds’ blog. Here’s a snippet from the article:
In a bye-gone age when true road racing over mammoth stretches of tarmac still existed the confines of the Nordschleife still managed to conjure up fear in even the most daring drivers. Nobody conquered the 14 miles as convincingly as Juan Manuel Fangio in 1957 or Jackie Stewart in 1968, both of whom later confessed to the fear that taming the Green Hell struck into them. That a circuit as daunting and idiosyncratic as this still hosts racing, let alone members of the public hurtling round in their own cars and bikes, is a rare triumph for the thrill-seeking spirit in an ever more homogenised world. That this Mecca for motorists is struggling under the weight of its debt is a more than a shame, it is a threat to a great symbol of the freedom of motoring.
Follow the source link below for more.
[Source: Race of Two Worlds]
Falken Tyres brings us this fascinating footage filmed inside their Porsche 911 GT3 R during the 2011 Nürburgring 24 hour race. Strap yourself in for 9 minutes 55 seconds of the most daunting motorsport footage you’re ever likely to see. It’s enough to try and master the ‘Green Hell’ on a clear sunny day; in the dead of night? You must be kidding!
